A British soldier has been killed while taking part in counter poaching operations in Malawi, Britain's defence ministry says.
Guardsman Mathew Talbot, who served with the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, was killed on 5 May in Liwonde National Park while on his first operational deployment, the ministry said on Tuesday.
British media reported that the soldier was believed to have been trampled by an elephant.
"He was hugely proud of his work as a Counter-Poaching Operator, and tragically died doing great good," his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Launders said in a statement.
Mr Launders said Mr Talbot was "determined and big-hearted" and had volunteered for the Malawi mission.
Britain's Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said Mr Talbot had died carrying out vital work.
Mathew Talbot. Source: Press Association
"This tragic incident is a reminder of the danger our military faces as they protect some of the world's most endangered species from those who seek to profit from the criminal slaughter of wildlife," Ms Mordaunt said.
The Director of Malawi's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Brighton Kumchedwa said that "two British soldiers and three Malawian wildlife rangers were out on a normal patrol where they came across three elephants.
"One of the elephants charged and the team tried to run for cover," he said.
According to Mr Kumchedwa, the elephant pulled Mr Talbot from a tree he had climbed and trampled on him.
"His friends tried to resuscitate him but it was all in vain because he died before they could take him to hospital," he said.
The presence of well-equipped British forces in the 530-square-kilometre Liwonde park has reassured rangers who routinely confront gangs of poachers armed with assault rifles.
Prince Harry, who visited the park in 2016, is the public face of the anti-poaching project that began that year.
Mr Talbot enlisted in 2013 and last year attended a multi-national training exercise in Kenya.
Benson Linje, a communications officer at the British High Commission in the capital Lilongwe, told AFP that Mr Talbot’s body would be repatriated to the United Kingdom by the end of the week.
